For: Commiserations are due to the boy who, it was reported recently, identified the ouch in couch potato and contracted deep vein thrombosis after four straight hours with his console, but let's not use it solely as another opportunity to demonise video games. Providing their usage is properly policed by parents (clearly not, in this case) they can be fun, educational, entertaining and, yes, physically challenging. For a pastime that has been roundly criticised for being sedentary and passive, the PlayStation Eye Toy, for instance, is anything but. With its telly-top camera and interactive activities, it provides a reasonable physical work-out, offering users the chance to be a kung fu superstar or dancing diva, among others. And it's arguably less damaging than plonking children in front of something as mind-numbing as CBeebies for hours on end. With consoles, at least they're learning manual dexterity, honing mental reactions and even, if you join in, enjoying bonding time. OK, so you'd rather they were collecting stamps or playing chess, but that's just you being old-fashioned.
Against: Your child's face is the picture of rapturous absorption. He is awestruck, mesmerised, couldn't be more fascinated - but unfortunately it's not you he's looking at. It's not your parental pearls of wisdom, your charming stories from childhood, or your actorly rendition of Jabberwocky that's transporting him to such extremes of sensory pleasure, it's that pesky electronic box in the corner. You wouldn't mind if there was something even faintly edifying on the screen, but there is not; it's cartoon characters beating the living crap out of each other (Simpsons Wrestling, anyone?). It's Legolas and Aragorn on an Orc-slaughtering mission (the player competes for a "kill rating" ranging from fair to perfect). That children emerge from these electronically controlled killing sprees looking like mad-eyed zombies should come as no surprise to parents, but it seems a price they're willing to pay for a couple of hours babysitting - from a babysitter that doesn't charge by the hour, eat all your crisps or demand a lift home. But by allowing unlimited access to video games you are breeding an antisocial nerd who will still be living at home when he's 38.
Verdict: A brush with DVT is unlikely to deter hardcore console abusers. The cure is 10 or so weeks' R&R. That'll be bonus time in front of the screen, then.
